People pray at a makeshift memorial Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019, in Aurora, Ill., near Henry Pratt Co. manufacturing company where several were killed on Friday. Authorities say an initial background check five years ago failed to flag an out-of-state felony conviction that would have prevented a man from buying the gun he used in the mass shooting in Aurora. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

AURORA, Ill. – More than 1,500 people braved snow and freezing drizzle to attend a prayer vigil for five co-workers who were fatally shot at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant.

The Rev. Dan Haas told those who gathered for the vigil Sunday outside the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora that Friday’s "senseless killings" at the business left the victims’ families brokenhearted over lives that "were snuffed out way too short."

Haas called on God to bring comfort to the families and Aurora. He then read the names and ages of the five shooting victims , prompting sobs and cries.

Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin said the city’s residents feel for the families "with all our hearts" but that condolences are not enough.

The city of Aurora tweeted that about 1,700 people attended Sunday’s vigil.

A massive drug operation with ties to a Mexican drug cartel resulted in the arrest of six immigrants in the country illegally. From left to right, upper row: Oscar Rangel-Gutierrez, Raul Rangel-Gutierrez, Regulo Rangel Gutierrez; lower row ( L to R) Rodolfo Martinez, Rigoberto Rangel-Gutierrez and Francisco Garcia-Martinez.

“Members of the investigative team believe — based on wire intercepts, surveillance and other facts discovered from the investigation — that Oscar and Regulo transport illicit proceeds, derived from the sales of narcotics, when they travel from Myrtle Beach to Charlotte,” according to federal court documents, as WMBF reported.

Misty Joyner, who reportedly lived near the home in Charlotte where investigators said Rangel-Gutierrez stored drug money, was in disbelief about her neighbors.

“Just devastating,” Joyner told WSOC. “They were good people.”

Rangel-Gutierrez is affiliated with the upstart Jalisco New Generation cartel, which has tried to stage incursions into Sinaloa territory, sparking bloody turf battles in places like Tijuana. The border city across from San Diego has become one of the world’s deadliest cities.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday pitched President Donald Trump’s border wall as more critical than the construction of a Kentucky middle school.

"It's better for the middle school kids in Kentucky to have a secure border,” Graham said during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” after host Margaret Brennan pointed out that about $3.6 billion in government funds, including money for the construction of a middle school in Kentucky, would be used to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border following President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency.

“We'll get them the school they need,” he added. “But right now, we've got a national emergency on our hands. Opioid addiction is going through the roof in this country. Thousands of Americans died last year and dying this year because we can't control the flow of drugs into this country and all of his coming across the border. …”

Trump on Friday declared that the "current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency” after Congress allocated just $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new fences along the border in Texas in the new spending bill.

SKOPJE, North Macedonia – Police in North Macedonia say two vehicles carrying 22 migrants who allegedly planned to enter Serbia illegally and travel on to European Union countries were stopped in separate weekend incidents.

Police said Sunday that nine Pakistanis were found in a car in the country’s south late Saturday, near the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. The driver was arrested and placed in custody.

They say 13 Syrians were discovered Sunday, but their driver ran away.

Authorities said both groups would be deported to Greece, where they had been before.

North Macedonia police said they also broke up a migrant trafficking ring Saturday in which a police officer allegedly was involved.

A 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey was meant to close off the Balkans land route from Greece to western Europe.

SOUTH PARIS, Maine – A dog that went missing in Massachusetts months ago has been reunited with its family after being found in Maine, 175 miles (282 kilometers) away.

The Bangor Daily News reports 5-year-old king shepherd Kaiser made his way from Ashby, Massachusetts, to South Paris, Maine, over a span of eight months. The pooch jumped a wall at the home of a woman who was caring for him before going missing.

Kaiser’s owner, Tom Wollcott, and his children were reunited with the dog Sunday morning. Wollcott conducted an exhaustive search, including using a drone to try to find Kaiser.

A Bethel, Maine, woman had been feeding Kaiser and called animal control, which took the dog to a no-kill shelter in South Paris. The shelter says in a Facebook post that Wollcott was then able to identify Kaiser.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaragua says it has held talks on restarting a long-stalled dialogue following political violence that left more than 300 dead last year, but opposition groups and civil society are demanding a raft of preconditions.

They include the release of people considered "political prisoners," a halt to what they call "repression" of government opponents, guarantees for freedom of expression following the closure of media outlets critical of the government, and the disbanding of armed, pro-government militias.

The government announcement late Saturday said it has had an "exchange" with a group of private businesspeople in the presence of two Roman Catholic Church figures on resuming talks over matters important to Nicaragua.

Roman Catholic Cardinal said President Daniel Ortega and his powerful vice president and first lady, Rosario Murillo, participated in the talks.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – El Salvador police say they’ve arrested a man convicted of participating in the 1981 killing of two American labor advisers and the head of the country’s land reform agency — a case that shook U.S. relations with a Central American nation then embroiled in civil war.

Police said Sunday they had arrested Jose Dimas Valle Acevedo, who had been a corporal in the now-disbanded National Guard.

He was one of two men who confessed to gunning down land reform chief Jose Rodolfo Viera, as well as Michael Peter Hammer and Mark David Pearlman, U.S. citizens working with the AFL-CIO.

Both gunmen were freed under a 1987 amnesty law that was overturned in 2016.

A U.N. truth commission said the slaying apparently was ordered by prominent businessmen, but charges were dropped.

California man sentenced to prison for starting wildfire that forced over 7,000 to evacuate

Brandon McGlover, 33, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after he admitted to starting a wildfire in Southern California that forced 7,000 residents to evacuate. (CAL Fire)

A man was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he admitted to sparking a wildfire in Southern California that forced over 7,000 residents to evacuate last summer.

Brandon McGlover, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of arson to a structure or forest land on Thursday in connection to the Cranston Fire, which unfolded last July in Riverside County. McGlover admitted to setting several structures on fire that day, though he gave no motive. He originally had faced more charges but they were cut during a preliminary hearing, the Press-Enterprise reported.

By the time the Cranston fire was contained, it had burned over 13,000 acres, destroying at least five homes in its path. McGlover, from Temecula, was ordered to pay restitution to his victims, which could amount to millions of dollars.

The Cranston fire took place during a devastating summer for California, which saw at least six other major fires ravage the state. A few months after the Cranston fire, the Woolsey fire destroyed the homes of a number of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Miley Cyrus, Gerard Butler and Robin Thicke.

His victims, however, remained unconvinced. Residents whose lives were forever changed by the Cranston fire said that they suffered from depression, anxiety and shock. One woman, Janine Munson, said her husband died after he suffered a heart attack as they were trying to escape the flames.

The environmental impact of the fire has been substantial; the surrounding area now carries a risk of mudslides.

AUGUSTA, Maine – Documents obtained by a Maine newspaper show the state’s former Republican governor and his staff spent at least $22,000 in public money at a hotel owned by the family of President Donald Trump.

The Portland Press Herald reports Sunday that former Gov. Paul LePage and staff paid for more than 40 rooms at Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., over a two-year period. The paper reports documents it obtained show the administration paid from $362 to more than $1,100 a night for rooms at the luxury hotel when in D.C. to meet with Trump or conduct other business.

Former LePage press secretary Julie Rabinowitz says the ex-governor is unlikely to discuss travel receipts because he might be deposed on a federal emoluments lawsuit. LePage was cited in the lawsuit in 2017.

“(One night in battle), they were coming up against the enemy, he said, and it was a foggy night and they could not see,” his daughter, Regina Owens, told the paper. “But above on the hill was the enemy with machine guns. All of a sudden, all of his buddies went down, including my dad. His helmet came off, and he looked up, and the picture he saw in the helmet was the Blessed Mother. From that day forward, he was so devoted to her, always.”

His devotion hasn’t ever wavered.

“Whenever I had any problems, I prayed,” he told the paper. “I’m satisfied that I get to be 100.”

Biden slams Trump's treatment of European allies as speculation mounts of possible 2020 run

Amid widespread speculation that he could soon declare his candidacy for the 2020 presidential race, former Vice President Joe Biden offered up this weekend his latest critique of the Trump administration and its foreign policy direction.

Speaking during a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Biden criticized President Trump’s treatment of the United States’ traditional allies in Western Europe and promised a rekindling of the close ties European powers shared with Washington.

“The America I see does not wish to turn our back on the world or our closest allies,” Biden said, as The Washington Post reported.

He added: “The America I see cherishes a free press, democracy, the rule of law. It stands up to the aggression of dictators and against strongmen.”

Biden has been one of the harshest voices speaking out against Trump’s isolationist “America First” initiatives and his continued condemnation of the White House’s policies have added more fuel to the rumors that he could plan to challenge Trump in the 2020 race.

“This too shall pass. We will be back. We will be back," Biden said in Munich, according to the New York Times.

A source close to the Biden camp told Fox News last week that the former vice president is almost certain to enter the race soon.

The source said the timing of an announcement is still up in the air. With such a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls, Biden wants to keep big donors and potential staffers with him and has been conducting outreach to former colleagues, grassroots activists and contributors, the source said.

The 76-year-old former vice president’s decision comes as a slew of younger and more liberal Democrats have already jumped into the fray, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

However, some close to Biden have suggested that with his name recognition and long record of public service, he could afford to wait before moving forward.

Also speaking at the conference in Munich was the man who took Biden’s job when Trump came into office, Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence used his time at the pulpit to double down on American criticism of Europe.

Pence stuck to the U.S. line that the NATO guideline for its nations to spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense is a strict commitment rather than a target, saying while more alliance members have met the criteria, "the truth is, many of our NATO allies still need to do more."

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in sunglasses, poses for photos with people near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, which connects Colombia with Venezuela, in La Parada, near Cucuta, Colombia, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019. As part of U.S. humanitarian aid to Venezuela, Rubio is visiting the area where the medical supplies, medicine and food aid is stored before it it expected to be taken across the border on Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., greets Venezuelan migrants near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, which connects Colombia with Venezuela, in La Parada, near Cucuta, Colombia, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019. As part of U.S. humanitarian aid to Venezuela, Rubio is visiting the area where the medical supplies, medicine and food aid is stored before it it expected to be taken across the border on Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

CUCUTA, Colombia – U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is warning Venezuelan soldiers that they would commit a "crime against humanity" if they block the entry of U.S. aid that is being channeled through rivals of socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The Florida Republican on Sunday visited the border town of Cucuta, where U.S. aid packages are being stockpiled for distribution by congressional leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized the U.S. and dozens of other countries as Venezuela’s legitimate president.

Maduro Is using troops to block aid from entering, saying it’s unnecessary and part of coup to overthrow him.

Venezuelans fleeing hardship at home have flooded Cucuta seeking food and medicine in recent months. Rubio told a cheering crowd that Venezuelan soldiers who block aid would spend "the rest of their lives hiding from justice."

Marco Rubio: Venezuelan soldiers would be committing 'crime against humanity' by blocking aid

During a visit to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, Sen. Marco Rubio warned Venezuelan soldiers that they would commit a "crime against humanity" if they blocked the entry of U.S. aid being channeled through rivals of disputed socialist President Nicolás Maduro.

The Florida Republican made a stop in Cucuta on Sunday, where U.S. aid packages were being stockpiled for distribution by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized by the U.S. and dozens of other countries as Venezuela’s legitimate president.

Maduro has been using troops to block aid from entering, saying it’s unnecessary and part of coup to overthrow him.

Venezuelans fleeing hardship at home have rushed into Cucuta seeking food and medicine in recent months. Rubio told a cheering crowd that Venezuelan soldiers who blocked aid would spend "the rest of their lives hiding from justice."

During a contentious hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, told members of the committee that while the Trump administration has preferred to use economic, humanitarian and diplomatic channels to deal with the Maduro regime, the use of military force is not being ruled out.

“When we say all options are on the table, that is because all options are on the table,” Abrams said, adding that military force “is not the preferred route and not the route we’re going down.”

The comments on Capitol Hill by Abrams came as President Trump met last week in the Oval Office with Colombian President Ivan Duque. The two leaders discussed, among other issues, the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela that has sent an estimated 1.14 million refugees into Colombia.

Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela is gripped by widespread malnutrition, disease and violence after 20 years of socialist rule launched by the late President Hugo Chávez. Critics have accused Maduro, Chávez’s hand-picked successor, of unfairly winning an election last year for a second six-year term by banning his popular rivals from running and jailing others.

The U.S. and other nations have demanded Maduro step down and have recognized National Assembly leader Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader. Venezuelans also have staged large protests to pressure Maduro to leave.

Venezuela’s opposition has called its supporters into the streets across the country in a campaign to break the military’s support of Maduro, while Maduro has rallied supporters to demonstrations following over a month of pressure led by Guaido.

ATHENS, Greece – Dionissis Arvanitakis, a Greek baker who provided free bread to refugees who arrived on a Greek island, has died of unspecified causes. He was 77.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker released a statement Sunday expressing his respect "for an exemplary European citizen" who showed "rare generosity and sensitivity towards the hundreds of unfortunate immigrants."

Juncker said: "My Europe is the one Dionissis Arvanitakis symbolized."

Raised in a poor family of 10, Arvanitakis emigrated to Australia at age 16 and eventually returned to Greece, settling on the island of Kos in 1970. He opened a bakery with his savings.

In March 2015, he started giving away 100 kilos of bread (220 pounds) a day to the large number of refugees showing up on Kos.

Arvanitakis said at the time: "I know what it feels like to have nothing."

The Chabad synagogue in Brooklyn, New York was vandalized on Saturday, and police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime (Google View)

A New York synagogue was vandalized on Saturday evening, and police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

The rabbi at the Chabad Synogague in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood said a group of about 15 people was enjoying Shabbat together when the large front window of the building was smashed. Children were playing just a few feet away from the window at the time of the vandalism, but no one was hurt, CBS reports.

The synagogue released a statement early on Sunday morning addressing the incident, which they say was fueled by "hate and prejudice."

"We face this unfortunate experience not with discouragement, but with solid determination: to continue celebrating our faith, sharing our rich heritage, and offering our culture in an inclusive and warm environment," the statement posted to Facebook begins. "

At the same time, we acknowledge the disturbing and increasingly frequent incidents of hate and prejudice in our New York community and its destructive and divisive effects, especially on young people. We encourage each other and the public to stand up against it, whenever it occurs, whatever form it takes, and towards whomever it is directed. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us."

The incident is being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Division. Violence against Jewish groups is on the rise in New York this year, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The mayor spoke at a rally against anti-Semitism on Thursday, and said that there have been 47 hate crime incidents in New York through February 10 of this year, compared to 27 this time last year.

Attorneys for Jussie Smollett say there is no truth to reports that the "Empire" actor played a role in an assault on him last month by what he described as two men shouting homophobic and racial slurs.

In a statement late Saturday the lawyers say: "Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."

His lawyers say that Smollett will continue to cooperate with a Chicago police investigation into the reported attack.

Chicago police earlier Saturday said their investigation of the attack had "shifted" following the interrogation of two men. The brothers from Nigeria were first considered suspects, but then released from police custody Friday without being charged.

Smollett's attorneys say that one of the men was the actor's personal trainer, hired to prepare him physically for a music video.

Rush Limbaugh: Spending bill was effort by some Republicans to sabotage Trump

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, speaking to "Fox News Sunday," charged that the compromise spending bill recently signed by President Trump to avert another partial government shutdown was little more than a disguised effort by some Republicans to torpedo his 2020 presidential candidacy.

Limbaugh also rejected claims that President Trump is unduly influenced by right-wing media figures and "wackos" — an accusation that resurfaced amid the ongoing border wall funding dispute.

Late last year, a slew of prominent conservatives, including columnist Ann Coulter, excoriated Trump for appearing to back down on his threat not to sign any spending bill without wall funding. Trump responded by unfollowing Coulter on Twitter, then reversing course and insisting on money for the barrier project on the way to a historic 35-day partial government shutdown.

"It’s just another effort to continue to try to diminish the president — diminish President Trump as someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing, can’t do it without guidance from the wacko right," Limbaugh told host Chris Wallace. "It’s not at all the way he’s governing, and there isn’t anybody doing what I do that has a thing to do with actually making policy for this president."

FILE – In this March 5, 2018, file photo, construction continues on a new, taller version of the border structure in Calexico, Calif. A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by the state of California and environmental groups who tried to block reconstruction of sections of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, that the Trump administration did not exceed its authority by waiving environmental regulations to rebuild sections of wall near San Diego and Calexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, file)

On Friday, Trump said he is declaring a national emergency on the southern border, tapping into executive powers in a bid to divert billions toward construction of a wall even as he signed a funding package to avert another shutdown that includes just $1.4 billion for border security — far short of the $5.7 billion he has long requested for the wall.

The bill, which took bargainers three weeks to strike, provided additional funding for 5,000 more beds that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can use to house illegal immigrants. But in an attempt to pressure the agency to detain fewer illegal immigrants, Democrats ensured that the bill did not include funding for the 2,000 additional ICE agents requested by the Trump administration, or the 750 Border Patrol agents that were also sought.

Mexican Federal Police in riot gear guard outside of a migrant shelter for Central American immigrants in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A caravan of about 1,600 Central American migrants camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas. The governor of the northern state of Coahuila described the migrants as "asylum seekers," suggesting all had express intentions of surrendering to U.S. authorities. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Several Republicans, including Texas Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Chip Roy, voted against the bill, saying it didn’t properly address the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs across the border. Roy called the bill a "sham," and said the funding bill "undermines the whole point of an emergency declaration."

"We have an emergency — this is an invasion."

— Rush Limbaugh

For his part, Limbaugh said not enough attention is being given to Democrats’ resistance to even minimal border security measures. In an interview last week, potential Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke called for existing border walls to be torn down. Democratic presidential contender Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said she "could support" that position as well.

Central American immigrants line up to register with Mexican Immigration officials at a shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A caravan of about 1,600 Central American migrants camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas. The governor of the northern state of Coahuila described the migrants as "asylum seekers," suggesting all had express intentions of surrendering to U.S. authorities. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

"We have an emergency — this is an invasion," Limbaugh said, referring to the flow of thousands of illegal immigrants — including many in organized caravans — that continue to approach the U.S. border.

"The very existence and definition of American culture, American society, the rule of law — why does nobody talk about the fact that millions and millions and millions of people are breaking the law here illegally and the Democrat Party wants that to happen?" Limbaugh asked.

The compromise spending bill will undermine the White House and won’t produce results at the border, Limbaugh added — and, he asserted, that might be what some Republicans intended.

Central American immigrant families look out through the fence of a shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A caravan of about 1,600 Central American migrants camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas. The governor of the northern state of Coahuila described the migrants as "asylum seekers," suggesting all had express intentions of surrendering to U.S. authorities. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

"Both parties have people that are still trying to get rid of Donald Trump. I read this bill — this spending bill, this bill is outrageous," Limbaugh said. "The thing’s welcoming centers for newly arriving illegal aliens, and all kinds of medical care for – the purpose of this bill, I think, was eventually to be used by the Democrats and some Republicans to tell the American people, ‘See, electing President Trump was pointless, worthless, he can’t protect you, he can’t stop us, he can’t do what he said he was going to do, because we hate him so much we’re not going to allow him to do it — that’s what this bill is."

Recently unearthed efforts by the FBI and Justice Department to begin discussions about ousting Trump in 2017, Limbaugh continued, only serve to underscore his point further. Fox News first reported on Sunday that top FBI lawyer James Baker, in closed-door testimony to Congress, detailed alleged discussions among senior officials at the Justice Department about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, claiming he was told Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said two Trump Cabinet officials were “ready to support” such an effort.

The testimony was delivered last fall to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. Fox News has confirmed portions of the transcript. It provides additional insight into discussions that have returned to the spotlight in Washington as fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe revisits the matter during interviews promoting his forthcoming book.

"People, simply because they don’t like a guy’s hairstyle or like where he came from, decided the American people’s decision was invalid and began a systematic process to get him out of office — this is a silent coup," Limbaugh said. "These guys, if you ask me, ought to be the ones in jail."

Asked who the likely 2020 Democratic presidential nominee will be, Limbaugh sided with former Vice President Joe Biden. Although Biden has not formally announced a bid, a source with direct knowledge told Fox News on Thursday that he is virtually certain to run.

"The frontrunner would probably be right now Joe Biden, 77 years old, plagiarist, nicknamed ‘plugs’ – I think he’s the guy they are probably thinking is the leader in the polls right now," Limbaugh said. "But it’s going to be very crowded. They’re going to be knocking each other off. That’s going to be fun to watch. Incumbancy carries with it a lot of power. … They’re getting way ahead of the game, and I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as they think."

A hot air balloon carrying 10 people went down near Skaggs Island on Sunday. (Vallejo Firefighters Association)

A hot air balloon carrying 10 people in northern California Sunday after high winds prompted the pilot to make an "emergency landing," a fire official said.

The hot air balloon went down just before 10 a.m. Sunday off of Skaggs Island near Highway 37, Vallejo Fire Department’s spokesman Kevin Brown told KTVU. At least one person suffered a minor injury, while others were "suffering from just cold weather," Vallejo fire tweeted.

Vallejo fire said the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing because high winds were pushing the hot air balloon toward power lines. A resident reported watching the aircraft go down and called police.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff refuted the findings of Senate Intelligence Committee chair Richard Burr, R-N.C., that the panel found no evidence of collusion with Moscow.

"You can see evidence in plain sight on the issue of collusion, pretty compelling evidence,” Schiff said. “Now, there's a difference between seeing evidence of collusion and being able to prove a criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.”

"All of this is evidence of collusion,” he added. “And you either have to look the other way to say it isn't, or you have to have a different word for it, because it is a corrupt dealing with a foreign adversary during a campaign.”

Schiff also said the president’s declaration of a national emergency to build his long-promised border wall is “daring the court to strike this down.”

"This is the first time a president has tried to declare an emergency when Congress explicitly rejected funding for the particular project that the president is advocating,” Schiff said. “He's pretty much daring the court to strike this down. It is going to be a real test for my GOP colleagues in Congress and their devotion to the institution."

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban has postponed an unscheduled round of peace talks with the United States set for Monday in Pakistan saying "most" members of their negotiating team are unable to travel because they’re on the U.S. and United Nations’ blacklists.

The statement Sunday offered no other details. It did not explain how several members previously were able to travel to meetings in the United Arab Emirates and Moscow.

The Taliban maintain a political office in Qatar, where members of the negotiating team reside. The Islamabad talks were seen as significant, coinciding with the visit of the Saudi crown prince to Pakistan.

The Taliban 14-member team includes five former inmates of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, and Anas Haqqani, the jailed younger brother of the leader of the militant Haqqani network.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Sunday reported talk in the Department of Justice about using the 25th Amendment to oust President Donald Trump “deserves scrutiny” — but doesn’t amount to “some deep state conspiracy.”

“I don't think that this, frankly, rises to the level of some deep state conspiracy or a serious attempt at what Senator [Lindsey] Graham [R-S.C.] called an administrative coup,” he said. “I suspect that once this is fully discussed, it'll be clearer that this was a brief or passing conversation that's been taken out of context. But it does deserve scrutiny."

On the subject of Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on Friday, Coons said Congress should move to block the resolution.

“The Congress, is going to jealously defend our right to be the body that decides on federal spending, and not let the president use this extreme measure as an end around our appropriations process,” he said.

“Presidents do have emergency powers,” he added. “They can declare national emergencies. But if you look back at the history of that over the last four decades, they've overwhelmingly been done in the face of legitimate national security threats where there was no time or no other means of addressing them.”

Anthony Weiner released from prison as part of federal re-entry program

Disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner has been released from prison and is now part of the federal re-entry program in New York as he awaits his full release later this spring.

Weiner, who was convicted for sexting a 15-year-old girl from North Carolina and sentenced to 21 months behind bars, has been transferred from Federal Medical Center in Massachusetts into the care of New York’s Residential Re-entry Management program.

While a staff member at New York’s RRM in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood was unable to provide Fox News with Weiner’s exact whereabouts, it is believed that he is serving the remaining time of his sentence in a halfway house or in home confinement before his official release on May 14.

Good conduct while in prison has shaved off about three months from his sentence. He will spend three years on supervised release and will have to pay a $10,000 fine as well as register as a sex offender.

Once a prominent star in the Democratic Party, Weiner’s political career began to unravel in 2011 when he resigned from Congress after admitting to sending an X-rated photo and engaging in inappropriate relationships with women online. While he attempted a comeback in 2013 when he ran for New York City mayor, that campaign went off the tracks when it was revealed that he had sexted with another woman under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger.”

In 2017, he was busted for texting with a high school girl and eventually sentenced to time behind bars.

U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote issued the sentence in federal court in New York.

“This is a serious crime that deserves serious punishment,” Cote said in a statement.

During his sentencing, Weiner wept openly and read from a prepared statement for several minutes, describing himself as “an addict” and calling his crime “rock bottom.” He said he has a “disease,” but it is not an “excuse.”

VATICAN CITY – Roman Catholics who were sexually abused by clergy are insisting that decisive actions to confront the decades-long problem of pedophile priests and church cover-ups must come out of an upcoming Vatican summit.

A founding member of the advocacy group Ending Clergy Abuse, Peter Isely, contended Sunday that Pope Francis is "facing resistance" from top Vatican officials as he prepares to convene bishops from around the world.

"Let me tell you what it was like to try and have to resist that priest when I was a boy who was sexually assaulting me," Isely said. "So whatever difficulty for him or discomfort this is for anybody in the papal palace, it is nothing compared to what survivors have had to undergo."

Isely offered his perspective in an interview with The Associated Press near St. Peter’s Square shortly before Francis spoke of the importance of the Feb. 21-24 event on protecting children and teenagers in the church,.

Addressing faithful in the square, Francis asked for prayers for the gathering of the heads of Catholic bishops’ conferences worldwide.

Francis said he wanted the summit, to be "an act of strong pastoral responsibility in the face of an urgent challenge of our time."

Revelations in many countries about priests raping and committing other kinds of sexual abuse against children and a pattern of bishops hiding the crimes have shaken the faith of many Catholics.

They also test the pontiff’s ability to ensure the safety of children and punishment for the abusers as well as any complicit superiors.

The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis approved the expulsion from the priesthood for a former American cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, for sexual abuse of minors and adults.

But survivor advocates also have demanded that Francis say what he and other top Vatican officials knew about the prelate’s sexual wrongdoing, which spanned decades.

"You abuse a child, you have to be removed from the priesthood," Isely said. "If you cover up for abusing a child, you have to be removed from the priesthood, and this is the only thing that is going to turn the corner on this global crisis."

Another founding member of the group, Denise Buchanan, a native of Jamaica, said a priest raped and assaulted her when she was 17.

"That rape actually resulted in a pregnancy, and the priest arranged for an abortion," Buchanan said.

"There is a struggle going on between the pope and his supporters who want a change, and a lot of people among the bishops and among the clergy who don’t want transparency and applying law and order in the abuse issue in the world," Politi said.

Some of Francis’ critics contend that as a product of the Catholic Church’s hierarchical culture, he, too, has been slow to recognize the hierarchy’s role in perpetuating abuse by pedophile priests.

Francis has tried to temper expectations for the summit, saying in January the "problem of abuse will continue" because "it’s a human problem." Isely of Ending Clergy Abuse said the bar should be high and the participants "have to deliver for survivors."

Prime Minister Imran Khan and top government and military officials greeted him at Islamabad’s airport, where he received a 21-gun salute. Earlier, Pakistan Air Force jets escorted Prince Mohammad’s flight when he entered the country’s airspace.

At the airport, a young boy and girl in traditional Pakistani dress handed the prince flowers. He was greeted by a host of Pakistani Cabinet ministers and the country’s powerful army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Khan himself drove the prince to the prime minister’s residence, where he was met by an honor guard.

During his two-day stay in Pakistan, the crown prince will hold formal talks with Khan to find ways to enhance bilateral cooperation. Saudi Arabia will invest in the energy sector across the country, including setting up an oil refinery in the southwest near the border with Iran. The move will likely irk Tehran as Iran is Saudi Arabia’s regional foe.

Shortly after his arrival, Prince Mohammad, accompanied by a high-powered delegation including leading businessmen and Cabinet ministers, attended a signing ceremony for the investment agreements worth $20 billion.

"This is first phase," he said, at the ceremony, adding that he hoped the future would bring even more Saudi investment in Pakistan.

"Saudi Arabia has always been a fiend of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has been a friend in need," Khan said.

Pakistan is in the grip of a major debt crisis and is seeking a $12 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund but has yet to sign the deal which comes with tough conditions.

Prince Mohammad will later travel to neighboring India amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi over this week’s attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 41 troops.

This week also saw an attack in Iran that killed 27 Revolutionary Guard soldiers that was claimed by the Pakistan-based militant Jaish al-Adl group.

Pakistan condemned the attacks, but India and Iran blame it for the violence.

Pakistan enjoys close ties with Saudi Arabia. It maintains a balancing act between Riyadh and Tehran.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday that the visit by the crown prince will take their countries’ bilateral relations "to new heights."

Pakistan voiced support for the prince during the international outcry after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. Khan attended an investment conference in Saudi Arabia in October that saw a wave of cancellations linked to the Khashoggi killing.

The crown prince has called the killing a "heinous crime that cannot be justified."

Khashoggi, who had written critically about the prince, went missing on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. After denying any knowledge of his death for weeks, Saudi authorities eventually said that he was killed in an operation aimed at forcibly bringing the writer back to the kingdom.

Saudi prosecutors say the plan was masterminded by two former advisers to the crown prince.

At least five people were killed and another five were wounded Saturday after four gunmen opened fire inside a club in Cancun, Mexico, authorities said.

The men, armed with a long gun and three handguns, opened fire inside La Kuka, a club located on a main avenue in central Cancun about 4 miles away from the seaside tourist hotel zone, Quintana Roo state prosecutors said.

Two of the five wounded in the shooting remains in critical condition on Sunday.

Cancun and Quintaroo have seen an uptick in violence in the last year, with federal authorities reporting 774 people killed in the state last year, compared to the recorded 359 killings in 2017.

The violence may be due to reports of the Jalisco New Generation cartel moving into the Caribbean resort city and fighting other local gangs to gain control of the area.

In January, three gunmen in Cancun shot and killed seven people at a home. The deadly shooting was due to an apparent dispute and ordered by a suspected gang leader who has been linked to the Jalisco cartel.

At least five people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside a club in Cancun, Mexico. (iStock)

Homicide cases in Mexico rose by 33 percent in 2018, shattering the country’s record for the second consecutive year, government statistics show. The U.S. State Department’s travel advisory in November urged people to “exercise increased caution” when traveling to Mexico due to crime.

“Violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery, is widespread,” the advisory stated.

Murdered Memphis mother may be subject in serial killer's sketches, family claims

A convicted murderer who has confessed to 90 killings may be linked by a jailhouse portrait to an unsolved killing of a woman in Memphis who was last seen alive on Christmas Eve over two decades ago.

The FBI released sketches last week made recently by admitted serial killer Samuel Little, based on his memories of some of his victims. Little, 78, is in poor health and last year confessed to 90 homicides nationwide over the past four decades.

The drawings were based on the memories he has of some of his victims, which the FBI said were "marginalized and vulnerable women who were often involved in prostitution and addicted to drugs."

After the sketches were released, Anthony Jones told WREG-TV he believes one of the women pictured is his mother, Priscilla Baxter Jones.

Priscilla Baxter Jones was last seen alive on Christmas Eve in 1996. (WREG via NNS)

Jones was last seen on Christmas Eve in 1996, when her son was 15.

“She was like, ‘I love you son… I’m gonna see you for Christmas tomorrow.’ I’m like, ‘Yes ma’am, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Next day comes, nobody heard from my mama. Day after that, nobody heard from my mama,” he told WREG.

The body of the 36-year-old woman, who was a prostitute, according to her son, was found two weeks later in the Mississippi River. Family members said she had been raped, stabbed and strangled.

Anthony Jones’ wife, Erica Wells-Jones, said she spotted the sketches and when they compared the photos the similarities jumped out.

Little drew sketches of at least 16 of the unidentified women, including one in the Memphis area. He admitted to killing a black female about 28 years old who he picked up in Memphis, according to the FBI.

This combination of undated sketches provided by the FBI shows drawings made by admitted serial killer Samuel Little, based on his memories of some of his victims. (Courtesy of FBI via AP)

While Jones said his mother was stabbed, all of Little’s other victims were reported to be strangled with their bodies dumped in mostly wooded areas. Because there were no gunshot or knife wounds on the victims, investigators blamed accidents, natural causes or drug overdoses for the slayings.

The Memphis Police Department told FOX13 on Thursday the victim with Memphis ties has not been identified at this point. The department’s homicide bureau is looking into the case and will “provide additional information as it becomes available,” according to FOX13.

Disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner has been released from federal prison in Massachusetts.

The New York Democrat, a once-rising star who also ran for mayor, was convicted of having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old North Carolina girl in 2017. He began serving a 21-month prison sentence that November at the Federal Medical Center Devens, located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Boston in Ayer, Massachusetts.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons website now shows Weiner is in the custody of its Residential Re-entry Management office in Brooklyn, New York. It's not immediately clear when he was transferred and where he's currently staying. Emails were sent to the bureau, federal court in New York and Weiner's lawyer requesting comment.

The bureau website shows Weiner is slated to complete his sentence May 14.

A new bill has been introduced in Congress that would preserve and document in a nationwide database the discovery of lost African-American burial sites (Glen Umberger/New York Landmarks Conservancy via AP)

New legislation proposed to Congress last week would protect lost African-American burial grounds, and green-light the creation of a database for tracking the historic areas.

Burial sites with the remains of enslaved or segregated African-Americans over the last few centuries are often uncovered during new construction nationwide, because they are not registered with state or local departments, according to Forbes. The new legislation, proposed on Wednesday by Congressman A. Donald McEachin, who represents Virginia’s 4th District, and Congresswoman Alma Adams, of North Carolina’s 12th District, would protect historic burial sites discovered as a part of the National Parks Service.

In addition to being registered with the NPS, the bill would also establish a federal nationwide database to record information about the spaces, as well as provide information for communities surrounding the burial grounds and secure funding for further research.

The bill intends to “help communities identify and record burial grounds and preserve local history while better informing development decisions and community planning."

African-American burial sites have been steadily discovered for decades, but there has not been a nationwide initiative to centralize the information about them. Many of the graves remain unmarked and the grounds unannounced, leaving countless African-Americans in modern society without any information about where there ancestors’ remains lie.

In 1991, the largest reclaimed African-American burial site was discovered in New York. It is believed to be home to the graves of 15,000 slaves. About 419 sets of remains were found there, and the site has since been renamed and memorialized as the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan.

More recently in New York, another African burial site was discovered in the East Harlem neighborhood in 2016. Local residents had reportedly claimed for many years that there were pre-Civil War remains underneath the 126th Street Bus Depot, and it was later revealed to be a former Dutch Reformed churchyard where black people were buried between the 17th and 19th centuries. Archaeologists discovered more than 140 bones and bone fragments, including an intact skull, acording to the Atlanta Black Star.

In Texas, the remains of 95 African-Americans were discovered at a construction site where a new school was being built about 20 miles from Houston in December. They had all been buried in pine boxes between the years of 1878 and 1911. Archaeologists also reportedly found chains near the unmarked graves. The individuals were thought to have been forced to work on sugar plantations long after slavery ended through a program called convict leasing, in which prisoners were "leased out" to provide manual labor.

"In the great state of Texas, we care about a little thing called private property, and there's going to be over 1,000 ranchers and farmers potentially impacted if the government comes in and takes their land,” Hurd said

"[Government officials] say, 'Hey, we need this land. Here's what we're going to give you.' And they get to automatically take it. And then the rancher or the landowner has to go in and fight in court,” he added.

Hurd also lamented the national emergency that Trump declared being used as a "tool that the president needs in order to solve this problem," saying it puts the nation "almost in uncharted territory."

"Our government wasn't designed to operate by national emergency,” he said.

“Unfortunately, a Congress that existed before I was born usurped some of their power, gave some of their power away to the executive branch. Our government was designed for the most ultimate power, the power of the purse, to reside within Congress. And we shouldn't have an executive — I don't care if it's Republican or Democrat — that tries to get around Congress with this national emergency declaration."

Hurd said he’s willing to make sure “that Congress takes back some of this power as a coequal branch of government.”

“And I'm sure there will be a lot of conversations. We're almost in uncharted territory now because I think that based on my research and this is one of the first times that there has been a disagreement between the executive branch and Congress on what is indeed a national emergency,” he said.

BOSTON – Dozens of people detained by federal immigration officials are on a hunger strike at a Boston jail.

Rhode Island-based community groups Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance and the Fighting Against Natural Gas Collective say they’ve been in contact with about 70 detainees at the Suffolk County House of Correction who are participating in a hunger strike that began Friday.

The organizations say the detainees are protesting abuse by jail officials and "inhumane conditions" such as bad food and broken bathroom fixtures. They also challenge the jail’s authority to detain people on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The organizations say the detainees sent jail officials a list of their grievances Feb. 10. Spokespersons for the jail and ICE didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Sunday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday denied Amazon got “chased away” from a deal to build a headquarters in New York City — saying the internet retailing giant “couldn’t handle the heat in the kitchen.”

In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” de Blasio lamented that “the minute there were criticisms, they walked away.

“They couldn't handle the heat in the kitchen, is what it looks like,” he said. “But they let a lot of working people down in the bargain.”

“Let's be clear: No one [was] chased away,” he added. “This was Amazon's arbitrary decision. We had an agreement. If I made an agreement with you, and there were issues that came up, but we had an agreement, you wouldn't call me in the dead of night and say, ‘Hey, we're taking our marbles, and we're going home.’”

He also said he doesn’t mind the flak he got from fellow progressives about a deal that would’ve given Amazon billions in tax breaks.

“It's a democracy. I have no problem with my fellow progressives critiquing a deal or wanting more from Amazon,” he said, adding: “There was a consensus in New York City. There were some people who stood apart. That's fine. That's democracy. I respect them. But Amazon just took their ball and went home.”

Yet de Blasio took a jab at progressives for not emphasizing “opportunity for working people.”

“We had a chance here to do something very positive for our city and for working people,” he said, adding: “The progressive movement needs to be about equality but also about opportunity for working people.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., vowed Sunday to investigate alleged discussions at the Department of Justice about invoking the 25th Amendment as a way to oust President Trump from office and threatened to subpoena former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe if he refused to testify on the matter before the Senate.

"We’re going to find out what happened here and the only way I know to find out is to call the people in under oath and find out, through questioning, who’s telling the truth because the underlying accusation is beyond stunning," Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on CBS’ "Face the Nation."

Graham added that he also plans to subpoena both McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if they won’t voluntarily agree to testify before the committee.

"There is no organization beyond scrutiny," Graham said. "There is no organization that can’t withstand scrutiny. And the FBI will come out stronger."

He said: "But we’ve got to get to the bottom of it. What are people to think after they watch "60 Minutes" when they hear this accusation by the acting deputy — acting FBI director that the deputy attorney general encouraged him to try to find ways to count votes to replace the president? That can’t go unaddressed."

Graham’s comments come on the heels of a Fox News story that reported that former FBI lawyer James Baker, in closed-door testimony to Congress, detailed alleged discussions among senior officials at the Justice Department about invoking the 25th Amendment.

The testimony was delivered last fall to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. Fox News has confirmed portions of the transcript. It provides additional insight into discussions that have returned to the spotlight in Washington as fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe revisits the matter during interviews promoting his forthcoming book.

Baker did not identify the two Cabinet officials. But in his testimony, the lawyer said McCabe and FBI lawyer Lisa Page came to him to relay their conversations with Rosenstein, including discussions of the 25th Amendment.

“I was being told by some combination of Andy McCabe and Lisa Page, that, in a conversation with the deputy attorney general, he had stated that he — this was what was related to me – that he had at least two members of the president’s Cabinet who were ready to support, I guess you would call it, an action under the 25th Amendment,” Baker told the committees.

CBS News reported on McCabe’s comments after he told “60 Minutes” that Justice Department officials discussed the possibility of removing Trump via the 25th Amendment and that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein had offered to wear a wire around the president.

The 25th Amendment provides a mechanism for removing a sitting president from office. One way that could happen is if a majority of the president’s Cabinet says the president is incapable of discharging his duties.

Since giving the interview to “60 Minutes,” McCabe has since made an about-face, with a spokesperson for the former FBI chief releasing a statement that says McCabe did not "participate in any extended discussions about the use of the 25th Amendment, nor is he aware of any such discussions."

New York City's de Blasio blames Amazon for caving on deal for new headquarters in city

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio laid the blame on Amazon deciding to pull up stakes on a new headquarters in the city squarely on the corporate behemoth, saying that the company just “took their ball and went home.”

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” de Blasio defended progressive Democrats who argued against Amazon’s move to the country’s largest city, but did add that the deal could have been a way for progressive leaders to show a balance on economic issues.

“I have no problem with my fellow progressives critiquing a deal or wanting more from Amazon — I wanted more from Amazon, too,” de Blasio said. “The bottom line is, this was an example of an abuse of corporate power. They had an agreement with the people of New York City."

He added: "They said they wanted a partnership, but the minute there were criticisms, they walked away. What does that say to working people, that a company would leave them high and dry, simply because some people raised criticism?"

Amazon officials joined de Blasio and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in November to announce plans to build a $2.5 billion headquarters in Queens.

De Blasio and Cuomo said the $2.8 billion in tax breaks and subsidies they were offering Amazon would result in $27 billion in tax revenue.

The company, however, announced on Thursday that it had dropped plans to build a new headquarters in Queens amid pressure from politicians and activists over the tax breaks it would receive.

“We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion — we love New York,” the online giant from Seattle said in a blog post announcing its withdrawal.

The stunning move was a serious blow to Cuomo and de Blasio, who had lobbied intensely to land the project, competing against more than 200 other metropolitan areas across the continent that were practically tripping over each other to offer incentives to Amazon in a bidding war the company stoked.

Cuomo lashed out at fellow New York politicians over Amazon’s change of heart, saying the project would have helped diversify the city’s economy, cement its status as an emerging tech hub and generate money for schools, housing and transit.

“A small group (of) politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community,” he said.

But Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City’s new liberal firebrand, exulted over Amazon’s pullout.

“Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world,” she tweeted, referring to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The swift unraveling of the project reflected growing antipathy toward large technology companies among liberals and populists who accuse big business of holding down wages and wielding too much political clout, analysts said.

“This all of a sudden became a perfect test case for all those arguments,” said Joe Parilla, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

Amazon ultimately decided it did not want to be drawn into that battle.

Amazon announced in November that it had chosen the Long Island City section of Queens for one of two new headquarters, with the other in Arlington, Va. Both would get 25,000 jobs. A third site in Nashville, Tenn., would get 5,000.

The company planned to spend $2.5 billion building the New York office, choosing the area in part because of its large pool of tech talent. The governor and the mayor had argued that the project would spur economic growth that would pay for the $2.8 billion in state and city incentives many times over.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Sunday that he will "definitely and imminently" file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for declaring a national emergency at the U.S.’ southern border.

"It’s clear that this isn’t an emergency, it’s clear that in the mind of Donald Trump he needs to do something to try to fulfill a campaign promise," Becerra said during an interview on ABC News’ "This Week." The construction of a border wall has been a central issue for Trump since he first announced he was running for president in 2015.

Becerra added: "That doesn’t constitute a national emergency that would require us to essentially stand down on all sorts of federal laws and also violate the U.S. Constitution.”

Becerra, a former Democratic congressman for the state, has become one of the Trump administration’s biggest foils on a state level, especially in regards to the White House’s policies on immigration and border security.

"It’s become clear that this is not an emergency, not only because no one believes it is, but because Donald Trump himself has said it’s not," Becerra said. "Typically, our presidents have focused on issues where the national interests are clearly at stake. The national interests aren’t at stake here."

Trump declared the emergency Friday in an effort to go around Congress to fund his border wall. It would allow him to move federal dollars earmarked for military construction to the border — but is already facing legal and political challenges.

Democrats are planning to introduce a resolution disapproving of the declaration once Congress returns to session and it is likely to pass Congress. Several Republican senators are already indicating they would vote against Trump — though there are not yet enough votes to override a veto by the president.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller told "Fox News Sunday" that "the president is going to protect his national emergency declaration." Asked if that meant Trump was ready to veto, Miller added, "He’s going to protect his national emergency declaration, guaranteed."

Miller insisted that Congress granted the president wide berth under the National Emergencies Act to take action. But Trump’s declaration goes beyond previous emergencies in shifting money after Congress blocked his funding request for the wall, which will likely factor in legal challenges.

JERUSALEM – Israel says it will withhold over $138 million from the Palestinian Authority for payments given to families of Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis.

The government’s security Cabinet said Sunday that it was implementing a law passed last year allowing Israel to withhold funds used to pay stipends to Palestinian attackers and their families from taxes Israel collects on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf.

The freeze comes as the Palestinians face major budget cuts made last year after the United States slashed funding for the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee program UNRWA and for development programs in the Palestinian territories. The U.N.’s World Food Program also cut back services due to funding shortages.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Court documents say police in Alaska were able to make an arrest in a quarter-century-old cold case with the help of DNA voluntarily submitted by an aunt of the man charged.

Alaska State Troopers have said 44-year-old Steven Downs of Auburn, Maine, was arrested in his hometown Friday on murder and sexual assault charges related to the 1993 death of Sophie Sergie. Sergie’s body was found in a dorm bathtub at University of Alaska Fairbanks when she was 20 years old.

The Portland Press Herald reports a charging document filed Friday in District Court in Alaska provides new details about how police identified Downs. Genealogical study traced Downs to Maine.

Court documents say Downs told investigators he recalled Sergie’s murder but had never met her. He’s due in court Tuesday.

The parents of missing Colorado mother Kelsey Berreth are alleging she was murdered by her fiancé, Patrick Frazee, because she wouldn’t agree to give him full custody of their year-old child, per court documents and ABC News.

“Upon information and belief, Frazee had motive to kill Kelsey in that he wanted full custody of Kaylee and/or Kelsey to leave Kaylee with him and Kelsey would not agree,” the parents’ attorney, Angela Jones, wrote in an amended civil complaint filed on behalf of Kelsey’s parents, Cheryl and Darrell Berreth.

Cheryl Berreth claims she called Frazee on Dec. 2, asking if her daughter was OK, and she alleges he told her a series of lies to hide the fact he had killed her or caused her to be killed.

Frazee told Berreth their relationship eventually turned sour. He said he had enough and wasn’t going to deal with things anymore. She was always putting him down in front of their child, according to the report.

The complaint mentioned in that phone call how Frazee said Kelsey left Kaylee with him while she “figured out what she was going to do.” He says she asked him for her belongings, so he gave Kelsey her keys and her gun,” per the complaint.

Frazee mentioned he sent her a text message, but when she didn’t respond he assumed her phone was on do-not-disturb mode, something he says she did often. A day later, Frazee called Cheryl and mentioned he couldn’t access her online phone records because she had set up an online account and he couldn’t answer the security questions. One being “where did you meet your spouse?”

He also suggested “Kelsey didn’t always return home directly after she got off of work and that she had gone out to dinner with some co-workers,” per the complaint.

After that phone call Cheryl became worried and asked the Woodland Park Police Department to check on her daughter. When they arrived there were cars in the driveway, but no one answered.

Cheryl Berreth also accused Frazee of making false reports, including how Kelsey had been to rehab, that she had run off, and how she abandoned their daughter in Frazee’s car. Other statements made by Frazee include that Kelsey was not their daughter’s primary caregiver and that she had “issues” that would warrant him “getting full custody.”

On Feb. 8. Idaho nurse Krystal Lee Kenney testified under oath that Frazee had admitted to murdering Kelsey on Nov. 22, 2018, per the document. That same day Kenney pleaded guilty to helping Frazee dispose of Berreth’s cell phone.

Kelsey’s parents, Cheryl and Darrell Berreth, were granted temporary custody of Kaylee last month, per a judge’s order. The next court date for Frazee is Feb. 19.

YOLA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s presidential campaign has been largely free of the religious pressures that marked the 2015 vote when Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner, defeated a Christian president from the south who had grown unpopular over his failure to control Boko Haram.

Now, with the leading candidates both northern Muslims, the Christian vote in the upcoming election on Saturday may be decisive in sweeping the incumbent from power for the second time in as many elections in Africa’s most populous country.

Nigeria’s 190 million people are divided almost equally between Christians mainly in the south and Muslims, like Buhari and his opponent, Atiku Abubakar, who dominate in the north.

Yet religious tensions remain even in an election that offers no clear sectarian choice, underscoring the pervasive influence of faith in Nigerian politics.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Sunday he’s “concerned” about President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build his long-promised border wall, saying Congress' role has become "really diminished."

In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Johnson argued Trump has the authority yet “I wish he wouldn’t use it in this case… I understand his frustration.”

“I think many of us are concerned about this,” he added, regarding whether the declaration is overreach. “[P]ast Congresses have given any executive, any administration way too much power. And this would be another expansion of that power.”

“Right now, the presidency is probably the most powerful, and then the courts,” he said. “And Congress is really diminished. And we should start taking back that congressional authority.”

He said he’s not decided, however, if he’ll support a resolution to disapprove of Trump’s national emergency declaration.

“I’m going to take a look at the case the president makes,” he said. “And I'm also going to take a look at how quickly this money is actually going to be spent, versus what he's going to use…. I'll decide when I actually have to vote on it.”

Norman, who sits in Baltimore County, said in his ruling that the officer, Royce Ruby, was entitled to qualified immunity, a legal doctrine shielding cops and government officials from civil liability when carrying out their duties, the paper reported.

Baltimore County police said in 2016 that Gaines was shot after pointing a shotgun at police who went to her home to serve warrants on her and her fiancé. She had failed to appear in court in a traffic case. Her son, Kodi, was shot in the face.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Sunday predicted there won’t be enough votes in Congress to override a veto of any resolution to counter President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration.

In an interview with ABC News’ “This Week,” the founding member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus also rejected the idea that Trump is breaking precedent by getting denied an appropriation but spending it anyway — saying Trump is fulfilling a campaign promise.

“Congress said, it's OK for some [money] but the president said, ‘this is such a grave problem, I need more money to build more wall and to fulfill the campaign promise that I told the American people I was going to do,’” Jordan argued.

And he predicted any congressional effort to stop him will fail.

“There’s going to be resolutions in both the House and Senate to – to disapprove what the president’s doing,” he said. “I think they’ll pass but when the president will veto them, I don’t think there’s any chance that the veto will be overridden.”

“It’s going to be settled in court,” he added.

Jordan also chided Congress for ignoring the multiple caravans of migrants that have come to the United Statess seeking asylum.

“How many caravans do we need? Six or seven or does an endless caravan, the one that never stops?” he asked.

He added that Democratic positions on abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, open borders and illegal immigrant protections are “dangerous.”

Special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking answers from a second former employee of data firm Cambridge Analytica as his team investigates allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

According to The Guardian, Brittany Kaiser — who was a business development director for the analytics firm before it closed in May 2018 — received a subpoena from Mueller's team. She is reportedly cooperating with the probe.

Kaiser's spokesman confirmed to the news outlet that she is also working with other U.S. investigations, including those in Congress, into the 2016 election collusion claims.

Cambridge Analytica worked on more than 200 elections across the world between 2013 and 2018. It's work during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign has come under intense scrutiny.

It was reported last year that the firm mishandled data belonging to more than 50 million Facebook users as President Donald Trump was campaigning for office.

The firm has also been accused of trying to partner with WikiLeaks to hunt for Democrat Hillary Clinton's 33,000 emails that were deleted after she served as secretary of state. The Trump campaign contracted with the company to obtain digital data.

Pawel Boduch, 43, was charged with murder Sunday after police discovered Edward Boduch, 71, and Miroslawa Potocka, 72, dead with knife wounds, NorthJersey.com reported. Police discovered the couple’s bodies just before 11 a.m. Saturday after one of their sons requested a welfare check at their Englewood home.

Police began hunting for Pawl Boduch, who lived with his parents, shortly after making the grisly discovery. They located Boduch hours after the alleged murder when located his car in a ShopRite parking less than a mile away from the family’s house.

President Trump once again took aim at "Saturday Night Live," suggesting that there should be a price to pay by TV networks for delivering such scathing satire.

"Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!" Trump wrote on Sunday morning.

On Saturday's show, "SNL" opened with a sketch featuring Alec Baldwin as Trump and mocking the president's declaration of a national emergency to secure funding for a wall along the southern border. The skit skewered Trump's Rose Garden announcement on Friday as a meandering series of pronouncements.

"We need wall, because wall works. Wall makes safe. You don't have to be smart to understand that, and in fact it's even easier to understand if you're not that smart."

This was the seventh tweet that Trump has sent out blasting "Saturday Night Live" since he hosted the show in November 2015 in the midst of his presidential campaign. But he's lately been suggesting that some sort of legal action should be taken against NBC.

"A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can't be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?" he wrote on Dec. 16.

Some presidents have taken "Saturday Night Live" with good humor. President George H.W. Bush invited Dana Carvey to the White House after Carvey impersonated him on the show during the 1992 presidential campaign. In 1976, Gerald R. Ford all but embraced Chevy Chase's portrayal of him as a klutz by inviting the comedian to the White House and even doing a cameo on "SNL."

Post Calendar

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz addresses a news conference to present the budget plans for 2019 and the upcoming years in Berlin, Germany March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch March 20, 2019 BERLIN (Reuters) – With solid public finances and a vibrant domestic economy, Germany is well placed to withstand headwinds from a weakening world economy, trade […]

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid March 20, 2019 By Medha Singh (Reuters) – U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors waited for more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook for the year, […]

FILE PHOTO: An attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee March 20, 2019 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will coordinate their positions on Thursday evening on a number of issues they intend to raise with […]

FILE PHOTO: A Federal Express delivery truck is shown in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 24, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake March 20, 2019 (Reuters) – Shares of FedEx Corp fell about 7 percent before the bell on Wednesday after the package delivery company cut its 2019 profit forecast for the second time blaming slowing global […]

FILE PHOTO: Moldovan President Igor Dodon addresses the media as he visits a polling station during a parliamentary election in Chisinau, Moldova February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza March 20, 2019 Source: OANN

President Donald Trump jabbed Democrats, saying they are getting very “strange” for a series of proposals from presidential hopefuls. Trump’s comments came in a tweet shortly after midnight Wednesday. He wrote: “The Democrats are getting very ‘strange.’ They now want to change the voting age to 16, abolish the Electoral College, and Increase significantly the […]